From University of Rochester Athletics
First-year Josephine Libby is one of eight women's tennis players remaining in the NCAA Division III singles championship after posting two straight set wins on Friday afternoon at USTA National Campus.
Libby is just the fifth Rochester singles player to ever qualify for the NCAA Championships and becomes the fourth in UR history to reach the third round. The last player to get this far in the NCAA tournament was Lia Weiner who reached the third round in the 2011 season.
On Friday, Libby's first round opponent was Daria Beshentseva of Kenyon College. Beshentseva entered the match ranked #5 in the Central Region, while Libby sat at #20 in the tough Northeast region.
In the opening match, Libby asserted herself quickly, breaking a 1-1 tie by rattling off five straight games to post a 6-1 set victory. UR's first-year player capitalized on six double-faults from Beshentseva and was strong from the service line, getting 15 of 19 serves in, leading to nine points.
After the easy win in the opening set, Libby took a key game in the second set to go up 5-2. Trailing 40-15, she held off two break points on her service game and scored four in a row to pick up a big game victory, going up 5-2. Beshentseva took two straight games to close within 5-4, but Libby closed with another break of serve to clinch the 6-4 second set win, advancing to round two.
Libby's second round opponent was seventh-seeded Crystal Juan of Claremont-Mudd Scripps. Juan, ranked second in the West region heading into the championships after a strong season for the national champion Athenas.
Juan had to battle to a tough three-set match in the opening round, and Libby took advantage of a possibly winded opponent, quickly going up 2-0 after an early break. Responded with a break and service hold to even things back up at 2-2 in the opening set.
The pair held serve the next four service games to sit at 4-all, with Libby edging ahead 5-4 with a four-point game. The next Juan service game, Libby held a set point, saw it evaporate, but responded again with back-to-back points for the 6-4 set win, with the last point coming on one of Juan's seven double-faults in the match.
Set two was littered with breaks of serve, as seven of the nine games went to the player who wasn't serving. Juan opened with a break, but Libby answered back to even the set at 1-1.
A key hold pushed Libby up 2-1, and she followed with another break, surviving a Juan game point to move ahead 3-1.
The duo traded breaks of serve over the next four games to pull Libby within one game of the match at 5-3. In her final service game, Juan took the opening point, but Libby added two straight to go up 30-15. After Juan evened the game score, Libby closed out the match with back-to-back points, winning 6-3.